BANGALORE, Oct 5: Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly today hinted at the possibility of playing three spinners in the first cricket Test against Australia tomorrow. ....................more

Dravid and Laxman hurt,
not Tendulkar: Gilchrist

BANGALORE, Oct 5: Australia’s stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist today said it was not Sachin Tendulkar but the Dravid..........more

Dravid keen to
catch Kumble’s
400th victim

BANGALORE, Oct 5: How does India vice-captain Rahul Dravid want ace leg spinner Anil Kumble to claim his 400th Test..............more

India seem to
be moving around
in a vacuum

By Pargat Singh

Seldom has there been such a low-key India-Pakistan clash in hockey as it was the case of the first Test in the India leg of the eight-match series. Coming in for the home leg trailing 1-2 from the Pakistani leg, the Indian hockey team would have been expected to make a fight of it to try and first cover up the deficit and then make a bid to emulate the cricket team in this ‘dosti’ series................more

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 5: Rehari Cricket Club (RC) today sailed into the quarterfinals of the cricket tournament being played at GGM Science College ground here beating the star-studded side of National Cricket Club (NCC) by 16 runs...................more

Jammu division boys claim
(U-15) school hockey title

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 5: Likewise girls, Jammu division boys today clinched the state championship trophy in under-15 year inter-division school hockey tournament beating Kashmir division 2-0 in the final at K K Hakhu stadium, here.........more

Women’s College wins
district Srinagar
Volleyball trophy

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Oct 5: Government College for Women (GCW), M A Road, here won the final of district Srinagar women’s volleyball championship beating.............more

J&K loses to Karnataka
in quarter-finals

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 5: Jammu and Kashmir today lost to hosts and defending champions in their quarter-finals encounter........more

Skipper Tirkey virtually ruled out of today’s match.....

Sachin ruled out for first Test.....

Tembe, Madkekar register wins in tennis......

Ganguly hints at playing three spinners

BANGALORE, Oct 5: Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly today hinted at the possibility of playing three spinners in the first cricket Test against Australia tomorrow.

“That’s (playing three spinners) a possibility, looking at the surface,” Ganguly told reporters at the function to unveil the Border-Gavaskar Trophy here.

“I have never seen a pitch like this in Bangalore. So dry and so many cracks. I think it can help fast bowlers once the ball gets old. But spinners will get lot of help from this surface,” he said.

Ganguly also dismissed fears that the team would have problems in adapting to the longer version of the game after playing so many one-day series.

“As professionals I don’t think that could be an excuse. In international itinerary, cricketers should adjust to both forms of the game quickly... They should adapt to the situation as quickly as possible.”

“We have had a four day practice match. Most of the batsmen batted well and the bowlers had a good work out.”

Ganguly said playing Australia has always been challenging and felt that the current series would be equally competitive like the last two ones.
“Playing Australia is always challenging. We have two quality teams in India and Australia.

“The last six tests between the two teams lasted for five days. I hope its not as competitive as those two series. Its hard for both sides.”

On the role of Sunil Gavaskar in the scheme of things, Ganguly said the former Indian opener would help in cricketing matters.

“We have had people work with John Wright in the past like Bruce Reid (as fast bowling consultant) in Australia. He will help us in cricketing matters,” Ganguly said.

Australia’s stand-in skipper Adam Gilchrist said they would finalise the playing eleven after studying the weather condition tomorrow morning.
“Australia has a fantastically well balanced squad. We have plenty of options to choose from. Which ever way I think is the right way to go, we are going to be well served in all departments.”

Gilchrist said there was no additional pressure on him as captain. “It is a wonderful team to captain. The experiences that I have had is that the games have run themselves. May be little inputs here and there.”

“Steve Waugh and Ponting are the two guys who have given the direction to the team. I am certainly not going to come in and change that direction.”

Gilchrist said the visitors learnt their lessons from their last tour of the subcontinent but would still maintain an aggressive approach to the game.
“I think huge part of that aggression had probably left the door open for India in the last series in Kolkata.

“Since that time, we have had a lot of time to ponder on these decisions and lot of time to think about individuals.”

“I am sure we are as much wiser for these experiences and we are much better planned to take what we think is a right approach, this time around.”
“And whether that means being a bit more patient that remains to be seen. If you do go down a patience line you should maintain what is one of our main strength and that is being aggressive.”
On his role as stand-in captain, he said, “I really enjoyed the involvement so far. Having been involved in the planning has really excited me. It has certainly increased my desire to get into the series, dive into it and make an impact.”
He said India-Australia contest had gained an identity of its own but yet the players would not have misplaced notions about winning in the subcontinent.

“Final frontier was probably for Steve Waugh. He was towards the end of his career. And he had not had success here. To be honest, he had not played a great deal of Test match cricket here.

“It is easy to be drawn into the theory that you haven’t won here for 35 years. But you haven’t played a huge amount of test cricket here.”
“It is increasing and that is great. No, we are not looking at it as a final frontier. We are looking at it as a fantastic opportunity to do something great that creates history for ourselves.”
“But we are not really placing greater significance in this series than the Ashes next year or the series we played against India last year and early this year.”
“It is wonderful, I think, the identity that India-Australia competition is getting. The anticipation is worldwide, not just in two countries.”
“It has got its own identity. It is becoming an icon series but I don’t see necessarily ranked higher or more important than any other. They are all very very important.” (PTI)

Dravid and Laxman hurt, not Tendulkar: Gilchrist

BANGALORE, Oct 5: Australia’s stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist today said it was not Sachin Tendulkar but the Dravid-Laxman combine that has proved to be the World champion’s nemesis over the years.

Gilchrist said Tendulkar was a great batsman but was not the one who had caused "damage" to the Aussies in the last two series. He, however, was quick to add that his team would not relax because Tendulkar was not playing.

"His absence is not a disappointment, I promise you. The game is better placed with sachin in it but with all respect to Sachin, he hasn’t been the one in the last two series that really did the damage to us," said Gilchrist ahead of the first Test starting here tomorrow.

"He had some remarkable innings in there (Australia), but over the course of the series it was probably (VVS) Laxman and (Rahul) Dravid that has really hurt us."

Gilchrist said he would personally miss Tendulkar but India had other talented players to take on the world’s top ranked Test team.

"There is a part of me that is disappointed. Sachin is one of the best players I have ever seen but I know that there are other guys around.

"We have to get through to them and we found it difficult to make inroads into the opening pair (Aakash Chopra and Virender Sehwag) in Australia," Gilchrist said.

"They did a great job and set up a wonderful foundation for the rest of the order to work from.

"We are all well aware of the talent (in the Indian team) and certainly we will not be taking anything easier because there is no Sachin.

On whether the Aussies would play the hard working Michael Kasprowicz ahead of the flamboyant Brett Lee, Gilchrist said, "that is an option."

"He has done a great job in the last 12-18 months since his return to international cricket. He has a definite chance of playing but we will finalise the eleven tomorrow.

"The wicket had little if any moisture in there. So obviously the line of thinking in these circumstances is bat first." (PTI)

Dravid keen to catch Kumble’s 400th victim

BANGALORE, Oct 5: How does India vice-captain Rahul Dravid want ace leg spinner Anil Kumble to claim his 400th Test victim?

Well, "the wall" says it would be great if it’s "caught Dravid bowled Kumble".

"Hopefully, it will be caught Dravid bowled Kumble. That will be icing on the cake," Dravid told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

He then went on to shower praise on 33-year-old Karnataka mate, who has so far taken 397 Test wickets in 84 tests.

"Anil is a fantastic cricketer and a person. He is truly legendary cricketer for Karnataka and Indian cricket. I am truly excited that he has given me a few exciting moments ... Watching taking him ten wickets in an innings."

"Hopefully, I will be part of the team in which he takes 400 wickets," Dravid added.

Asked if he was eager to score a century at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, his home ground where he has never recorded a ton, Dravid said: "I am eager to score a century everywhere I play even if I scored a century before. It does not matter. We will try to do our best."

Earlier, he released a book titled "casting a spell, the story of Karnataka cricket" authored by Vedam Jaishankar. (PTI)

India seem to be moving around in a vacuum

By Pargat Singh

Seldom has there been such a low-key India-Pakistan clash in hockey as it was the case of the first Test in the India leg of the eight-match series. Coming in for the home leg trailing 1-2 from the Pakistani leg, the Indian hockey team would have been expected to make a fight of it to try and first cover up the deficit and then make a bid to emulate the cricket team in this ‘dosti’ series.

Sadly, neither did the game rise to any great levels nor was there any sign of the Indian team showing any great motivation and plan to take a lead in their home leg. From the very start, the game was fairly dull and uninspiring. No wonder the fans were left disappointed by the quality of hockey as also the end result which was a 1-3 defeat for the home side. This now means that India is trailing 1-3 in the series with one match in Pakistan, the fourth Test, having been drawn.

The Indian forward line had in one of the matches showed signs of settling into a rhythm and suggesting that they might improve as the series continued. But unfortunately after that one game, the second Test in Pakistan, which India won 4-1, the Indian team has been very inconsistent.

They seem to have no definite on-field plan. Nor is there any sign of improvisation. Add to that wastage of penalty corners they wasted five in the Delhi Test and it is full recipe for disaster. In modern hockey, one simply cannot afford to miss so many penalty corners. Or at least otherwise there must be enough firepower to score off field goals, which again is missing in this young and inexperienced Indian team.

Pakistan may have also wasted a lot of chances, but their experienced forwards seem to find some way to score. Their forwards like Kashif Jawaid, Shakeel Abbassi, Rehan Dutt and others have managed to find the target in almost all matches.

Then they have a trump card called Sohail Abbas, who is surely the most dreaded penalty corner specialist in the world. Now with a world record equaling effort, he will be further encouraged and inspired.

When the series was first announced, there were talks about whether either side would be motivated enough after the Olympic Games. At that time, coach Gerhard Rach had said there cannot be any greater motivation than playing for one’s own country and that, too, against Pakistan. Perfect and truly said. But sadly this team does not seem to be showing that spirit or feeling.

The Pakistanis have found a goal for themselves in the form of Champions Trophy in Pakistan later this year, but India seems to be moving around in a vacuum. This is precisely what rach will have to guard against.

The Indians lost 1-3, with Pakistan striking once very early and once very late and once in between. The old Indian failing of poor trapping and inability to settle in quickly into the match cost India the first goal, and then they were almost ready to end the match regardless of the scoreline which was against them 1-2 at that time.

In that situation, Pakistan earned a penalty corner which became a stroke and Sohail scored his world record equalling goal. In between they had one more.

India managed one goal, but that, too, was rather fortunate. Sandeep Michael just happened to put his stick out for a tap-in that resulted in a goal. Frankly, there was no planned move there either.

Through out the match, barring the odd occasion, there was no plan and the net result was India never tested Pakistani defence or their goalkeeper. The result might have been only 3-1 but Pakistan truly outplayed India. Hopefully, this trend will be reversed in the next three games. Win or lose, at least let us have some good hockey.

Finally, one thing I cannot understand, is the timing of the matches. Hockey matches in such hot and humid weather at 1.30 pm in the afternoon and on a weekday. Surely, there cannot be anything worse to attract crowds. That’s probably why the Pakistani players, too, were surprised at the poor response from the public.

As for the weather, no one can answer it better than coach Gerhard Rach, who himself was a victim of dehydration and go off into the dressing room. Surely, Rach should emphasise the need to have matches at a better time, where fans, players and generally everyone can enjoy some good hockey.

Of course, if India wins, that will be the icing on the cake. (PTI)

RCC enters quarterfinals

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 5: Rehari Cricket Club (RC) today sailed into the quarterfinals of the cricket tournament being played at GGM Science College ground here beating the star-studded side of National Cricket Club (NCC) by 16 runs.
Led by Kavaljeet Singh, NCC could not chase a target of 132 runs in stipulated 25 overs and lost all their wickets at a score of 155 in 24.2 overs of their innings.
Three main batsmen, Kavaljeet Singh, Pardeep Bali and Inderjeet Singh were sent to the pavilion by RCC bowlers without allowing them to open their accounts, thereby reducing them to four for three. However, Ved Parkash (29) and Ranjeet Bali (20) besides Naresh (21) put in some efforts and salvaged NCC from a humiliating defeat. Kapil Sambyal and Manish contributed 14 and 13 runs respectively. From RCC, Rohit, Anoop, Abhijeet and Hardeep Singh shared two wickets each.
Earlier, batting first, RCC set a target of 132 runs losing all their wickets in 24.5 overs of the 25 overs. Abhishek made highest 58 runs with the help of four boundaries. Pankaj, Satyajit and Abhijeet added 15, 13 and 11 runs respectively. From NCC, Inderjeet was most successful bowler with three wickets for 27 runs in five overs. Raman Thaploo, Kanwaljeet Singh and Nishu took two each.
Abhishek was later declared as man of the match. Today’s match was officiated by Pappu and Joginder Singh while Rajeev Pintu was scorer. Next match: Vishal Cricket Club V/s Friends and Friends Cricket Club.
Meanwhile, RS Pura XI have reached the quarterfinal of the tournament beating Science College XI by seven wickets yesterday. It was wrongly mentioned in yesterday’s reports that RS Pura XI have sailed into the final.